This is a beautiful example that is also about movable and small displays which gather and form around objects to visualize information or attract attention. I like not only the ideas and examples shown in the video but also all other things, the user interface and the warning labels that she created around the concept. It seems that one can experience these displays live in the exhibition and that the displays are projected on the surface. This makes it possible to experience the idea even before the technology is ready for the implementation.
A great example of swarm-like displays.
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Flyfire
Posted on Wed, February 24, 2010 by phil
A really cool concept of flying led displays, called Flyfire, created by the SENSEable City Laboratory in collaboration with ARES Lab (Aerospace Robotics and Embedded Systems Laboratory).
This is a very interesting idea. It is about flying LEDs that can form either to a 2 dimensional display or to a 3 dimensional model of an object. It has much to do with the direction that my work is going to. And it also opens up a lot of possibilities and use cases. Of course there are a lot of problems and most of the videos are just concept visualizations (as far as I know).
The swarm-like behavior of this display-type is not only very versatile, it may also lead to a very unique look and a rich user experience.
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ready, set…go
Posted on Tue, February 23, 2010 by phil
Nervous but also excited we had a cool and motivating BA kickoff meeting with Karmen, the head of IAD.
Because she is currently in Montral, Canada, we had a Skype Meeting which worked quite well and was somehow a really cool start into the BA semester. It somehow looked like the epic Apple Macintosh Commercial from 1984. She explained how the whole semester will look like, which steps we have to take and what we have to deliver.
So far so good. The next date is next friday the 26th, when we have to present our ideas. Bad enough that I have some client work to do this week which I cannot postpone.
During the lecture at the ZHDK
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Drones
Posted on Wed, February 17, 2010 by phil
Drones, also called an UAVs - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are not a new technology or invention. The idea of of creating small, unmanned aircrafts that can be used for specific tasks exists since a very long time. What happenend the last few years is, that these UAVs became suddenly affordable to normal people.
While most product scenarios of drones cover military, surveilance, photographic documentation or entertainment purposes, the range of civil appliances of such devices is currently not clearly visible.
The aim of my bachelor thesis is to bring some light into this topic, to imagine some future scenarios and products based upon the current breakthroughs in technology.
After one and a half years of studing interaction design at the zurich university of arts, this is my final project. While the time went by extremely fast, I am somehow frightened by the size of the project and all the work that lies ahead of me.
The purpose of this blog is to document the steps involved in this process and to share and communicate the visions created by me and other people.
have fun,
phil.
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Using Expression Engine
Posted on Tue, February 16, 2010 by phil
And now for something completely different.
I’ve decided to use ExpressionEngine as CMS for this blog. I usually hate Content Management Systems as they are mostly totally overengineered and underdesigned for my taste.
ExpressionEngine is no exception. I am not really sure if it is superior to other CMS or not, but I have never used it.
Being a software design enthusiast, I am interested in how different software solves the same problem in different ways. By not always using the same system, I can broaden my experience and, after a while, am able to recognize different patterns in these approaches.
Anyway - here we go. The setup with ExpressionEngine was easy and hassle free. The template-editing sucks as usual but after a while you get used to it. There are tons of links, buttons, tabs and other stuff in the admin panel I will never use or find. But thats the way most CMSs work.
But much work lies ahead of me so I better stop bragging about Content Management Systems….
phil
